Today's plan is for a lazy morning at the Kakadu Lodge, some shopping then a trip to nearby Ubirr in the later afternoon to view Kakadu's most famous sunset vista! Sometimes things do go according to plan and after an easy morning, lunch and a swim, we head off to Ubirr about 34klm North. John has hurt his knee and remains in camp while Sue joins us for the afternoon.

On the way we stop at Cahill's Crossing, this quite famous crossing of the East Alligator River forms the border from Kakadu to Arnhem Land, where you need a permit to visit these Aboriginal lands. We arrive as the tide is near low, but still running quite quickly and 600mm deep, and 4WD's are lined up both sides till the turn of the tide to cross. What happens next is amazing! Within minutes the rush of water over the causeway ceases, all is quiet then engines are started and vehicles begin to cross. This lasts for no more than 15 minutes as the tide turns and soon whitewater has returned, the vehicles have departed, the Crocs patrol the depths and we are again alone.
 
We explore a few hundred meters up stream and find an Aboriginal family fishing from a steep bank. We watch for a while as a young boy, about 5, expertly whirls a handline over his shoulder then hurls it out into the stream, all while balancing on a log and chattering happily!

Ubizz is but a few kilometers away so we are soon again walking through this wonderful, ancient countryside. Ubirr is famous for its spectacular sunset as the sun sinks into vast emerald wetlands stretching from horizon to horizon punctuated only by some stands of trees and rocky jump-ups. There is also an historical aspect of 20,000 years of Aboriginal habitation is traced by the layers of rock art so plentiful in the overhangs and caves found here.
 
Our walk finds us catching up with a tour group guided by an Aboriginal Ranger explaining aspects of the art, life and times of the region. We dally for a while to listen but the sunset soon draws us upward to a larger plateau like jump-up. The walk is not particularly difficult and shortly Evi, Sue and Roscoe join others on the football field sized rock platform about 80 meters above the wetland, the view is inspiring and we play tourists as we point and photograph our way around. Roscoe is asked to take photos of a family, then another, then a few couples....he should have put up a shingle!
 
There is much smoke from bushfires in the air, one such fire clearly visible as it pushes into a drier section of the wetland. The smoke adds some intensity to the setting sun which soon becomes a blazing, then muted, red orb. Dark falls abruptly up here as we have learnt form past sunset walks, so as the sun touches the horizon we make our way down the climb back to the Patrol (here drinks await in our quietly humming car-fridge)!